Timothy Taylor (born 1963) is a Canadian novelist, short story writer, journalist, and professor of creative writing."A novelist who packs a punch". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', April 11, 2006.

Background

Born in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, Taylor was raised in

West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is situated on the north shore of Burrard Inlet to the northwest of the city ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and later in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. He studied economics at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

and obtained a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University. During his years in university, Taylor served as an officer in the

Canadian Forces Naval Reserve The Naval Reserve (NAVRES, ) is the Primary Reserve component of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The primary mission of the NAVRES is to force generate sailors and teams for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations, including: domestic safety operati ...

s. After graduation, he worked in banking in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. In 1987, he returned to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

where he currently resides.

Writing career

Taylor's short story "Doves of Townsend" won the

Journey Prize The Journey Prize (officially called The Writers' Trust of Canada McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize) is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by McClelland and Stewart and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short stories published b ...

in 2000."Vancouver writer dominates: One author stands out in two short story collections". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'', February 10, 2001. He had two other stories on the competition's preliminary list of finalists that year, and is to date the only writer ever to have three short stories compete for the prize in the same year. He subsequently served as a judge for the 2003 award. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, ''

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...

'', was published by Knopf Canada in 2001. It was nominated for the

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize from 2005-2023) is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried co ...

and the

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers ...

, as well as both the Vancouver and BC Book Awards. It was later chosen to be the 2004 title for

One Book, One Vancouver 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

. In 2007, ''Stanley Park'' was selected for the annual ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fre ...

'' competition, where it was championed by musician

Jim Cuddy James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo. Early life and education Cuddy was born in Toronto, Ontario. His mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch P ...

. ''Stanley Park'' was followed a year later by ''Silent Cruise'', a collection of eight stories and one novella which was a runner-up for the

Danuta Gleed Literary Award The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian national literary prize, awarded since 1998. It recognizes the best debut short fiction collection by a Canadian author in English language. The annual prize was founded by John Gleed in honour of his ...

. His second novel ''Story House'' was published in 2006 and made Canadian bestseller lists. His third novel, ''The Blue Light Project'', also a bestseller in Canada, was released in 2011. Taylor also writes nonfiction, particularly on food and wine topics. He's been a contributing editor at ''Vancouver Magazine'' and a regular contributor at '' EnRoute'', ''

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, nonprofit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an eight-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a nation ...

'', and ''Eighteen Bridges''. He has also written for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''Food & Wine'', ''Western Living'', ''The Vancouver Review'', ''

Toro Toro may refer to: Places *Toro, Molise, a ''comune'' in the Province of Campobasso, Italy *Toro, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria *Toro, Shizuoka, an archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Toro, Zamora, a ''m ...

'', ''

Saturday Night Saturday Night may refer to: Film, television and theatre Film * ''Saturday Night'' (1922 film), a 1922 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille * ''Saturday Nights'' (film), a 1933 Swedish film directed by Schamyl Bauman * ''Saturday Night'' (1950 fil ...

'', ''

Adbusters The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as "a global network of artists, activis ...

'', the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'' and the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

''. He has published the non-fiction books ''The Cranky Connoisseur'' (2011) and ''Foodville'' (2014). In 2013, Taylor took a position with the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

's Creative Writing Program, where he now serves as an associate professor. Taylor's newest book is the novel ''The Rule of Stephens'', published in 2018."When worldviews collide: Timothy Taylor's new novel explores the limits of science and rationality"
'' Q'', March 14, 2018.

Publications

Novels

* ''

''. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2001. * ''Story House''. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2006. * ''The Blue Light Project''. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2011. * ''The Rule of Stephens.'' Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2018.

Short stories

* ''Silent Cruise'' Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2002.

Nonfiction

* ''The Internet Handbook for Canadian Lawyers'' (with M. Drew Jackson): Carswell, 1997. * ''The Cranky Connoisseur'': New Word City. 2011. * ''Foodville'': Nonvella. 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Timothy 1963 births Living people Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers People from West Vancouver Writers from Edmonton Queen's University at Kingston alumni University of Alberta alumni 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian food writers Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Canadian male non-fiction writers Novelists from Alberta Novelists from British Columbia